26 May 2000
In a submission to the LGA, Peter Simpson, head of Brook Western College in Northamptonshire, said that levels of staff absence at his school averaged between 2% and 3%.
The school, which has five eight-week terms, particularly benefited in the period around Christmas, when absences are traditionally at their highest.
'At that time absences are 2.3%. It's because of the two-week holiday in the autumn. It allows teachers to return in November feeling properly refreshed,' Simpson explained.
Chairman Christopher Price said this reflected other submissions to the commission. 'We're collating figures from a sample of local education authorities to see if there is hard evidence of this,' he added.
PFmay2000
